


Just Like Him

by dyingpoet



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Bonding, Drunkenness, Sad with a Happy Ending, but johnny is sad and this is Not The Time, i ship these two as much as the next guy yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 06:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13607697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyingpoet/pseuds/dyingpoet
Summary: Dallas tries to sleep in the lot and finds company





	Just Like Him

For some reason starting a fire always seemed like an easy thing to do for Dallas. Granted, he'd never done it himself, but in movies and shit they could get it going in a couple minutes, but he'd been out in the damn lot for half an hour and couldn't get as much as a spark. 

He tried hitting two rocks together like he'd seen Soda do a few times, and after the third try he stopped. Partly because this whole thing was some sort of witchcraft, but also because he thought he'd head a twig snap somewhere to his left.

Another one snapped and he thought he heard a curse follow it, so he reached for the switch in his back pocket slowly, trying to see anything in the heavy darkness. 

After a couple seconds he did find the source of the noise, flicking out his blade just as a frightened, and pretty wasted, Johnny Cade stumbled toward him. "Dally?"

"Fuckin' Christ Johnny." He let out a breath as he closed his blade, kid was gonna get himself killed one day walking around at night like this. And damn was he drunk. "You been drinkin' kid?"

Johnny frowned a bit, stumbling over his feet before sitting next to Dally. "Nah, I don't drink Dally."

Dallas smirked, shoving at the kid's shoulder lightly and chuckling when he nearly fell over. "You sure about that? Seems like you mighta had a few."

"Yeah Dally, I'm sure." He giggled after that and leaned into Dally, who had to admit that it felt nice to have someone leaning on you like that, made him feel like a big brother almost. Sure, Johnny wasn't his kid brother, even though he'd be a hellavu lot better off if he was, but he got why Darry acted like he did with Soda and Ponyboy whenever he and Johnny got like this. 

With the kid laying his head on his shoulder and playing with the sleeve on the jacket drunkenly, he'd just about kill anyone who tried and touch him. "Okay then Johnny, seems like you're lyin' but okay."

He heard Johnny whine a bit. "I don't lie Dallas, I ain't like him."

"Like who?"

"My old man."

He turned so suddenly Johnny fell on his side, Dallas grabbing his sleeve and pulling him back up. The kid looked up at him lazy, the slightest bit of fear in his eyes that really fucking stung. 

"Hey, hey," he lifted Johnny's chin up and looked him in the eyes, "Don't say that huh, he's a bastard, you're nothing like 'im. Who told ya that huh?"

Johnny tried to look down again, Dallas's hand forcing him back up, he'd stay at this till the damn sun came up, kid deserved to think better of himself than that. "C'mon kid, I ain't mad at ya."

"You should be."

He said it so quietly Dallas just barely caught it. "Why?"

"Why what."

"Why should I be?" If the kid didn't look near tears he probably would have gone down to his house and killed the fucker that made him say something like that. Darry'd had to stop him from doing it a few times over the last couple of years actually.

"Cuz I ain't worth nothin' Dal," he slurred, letting his head go limp in Dally's grip, though could feel his arm squirming a bit, which had gotten slightly tighter than he would have liked as he got more mad. 

"Fuck that Johnny," he kept going quickly after the kid flinched, "The whole gang knows it too, we'd be nothin' without you John, fuck anyone who says somethin' different."

Johnny said nothing, just closed his eyes and let himself lean into Dallas more. He reeked of whiskey, lord knows where he even got it, kid looked like he could be twelve, no one in his right mind would sell him anything, and he wasn't the type to steal anything either. While Johnny relaxed into him for a moment, he thought for a second that Two-bit might have snagged it for him.

He let go of the thought as soon as it came though, they all knew that the kid drinking was off limits, a couple years back they'd found him with a bloody nose hitting back a bottle of vodka in the park, it just wasn't good for him was all.

"I hate it there Dally," he whispered.

He rested his head on top of Johnny's letting himself be affectionate for a rare second and lightly rubbing the kid's back. It felt awkward at first, normally he'd never be caught dead doing something like this, but they were alone, and this was Johnny, so he let it happen. He kinda liked how it felt too, to care about someone like he did Johnny, like he had someone to look out for besides himself, for once.

"I know Johnny, but you ain't there now huh?" He held Johnny at arm's length and leaned down to keep eye contact with him. His gaze kept shifting while, Dallas guessed, he tried to focus his eyes, whiskey did that to a guy. 

Johnny hiccuped for a second when he tried to respond, which led to him falling against Dallas when he tried to gain composure. "Yeah Dally, we ain't, 's nice out here." He sort of looked like he'd forgotten where he was for a second and Dally smiled, kid was pretty cute while he was drunk. 

"Surprised you were able to find your way over here Johnnycake."

Johnny giggled a bit when Dallas ruffled his hair. "I-I'm not that drunk, I ain't Two-bit."

"Little smartass," he said, "Two-bit'd take ya down if he heard ya talkin' like that."

He felt Johnny shift his legs a little bit while he smiled up at Dallas. "He's all talk Dally."

Dallas snorted, "Sure kid, you keep on thinkin' that." He shoved lightly at Johnny's chest, kid falling back and staying down. He noticed that after a few minutes his eyes shut, and a few minutes after that his breathing evened out. 

With the kid asleep, Dallas let out a long sigh, he still wished they had a fire going, but the kid looked colder than him anyway, so he took off his jacket and laid it down on top of him. Johnny hugged it to his chest immediately and curled into a ball on the ground.

"Gonna freeze my goddamn ass off out here," he mumbled as he laid back next to Johnny. He looked at the kid for a few minutes, he was here with him and he was safe for the time being, and with that thought in the back of his mind, he fell asleep.

* * *

 

"Rise and shine kids!"

Dallas groaned, screwing his eyes shut when the sunlight hit them. Seconds after he heard a moan from Johnny, probably a much more hungover moan than his, but still. 

"C'mon get up," he felt a light kick to his side and glared up at a far too awake Sodapop Curtis. "We're goin' to work, go in the house."

Dallas rubbed at his eyes, feeling his back crack as he sat up and stretched. He looked to his side and smirked, Johnny was trying to curl up in his jacket while Steve kneeled at his side, shoving at him to try and get him up. "Leave the kid alone, he's hungover."

Steve and Soda whistled loudly, which got Johnny up. The kid glared at Dallas before getting up and stumbling for a second before Steve caught his arm.

"Damn Johnny, partyin' without us now?"

He and Soda laughed when Johnny shot a pretty impressive curse back, walking toward the house with his feet dragging.

The remaining three watched him get in, Soda turning back to Dallas and tilting his head. "He's okay?"

Dallas nodded, "Yeah, I watched him, he wasn't too bad off."

"Good," Soda said, holding a hand out to help Dallas up, which he gratefully accepted. "We gotta get to work though, stay with him while we're gone?"

Waving a hand dismissively Dally grunted in agreement, going toward the house himself when Soda and Steve walked off. They trusted him with the kid, and that felt really fucking good.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this was self indulgent as hell yall, i love drunken angst with a passion
> 
> leave kudos/comments if you enjoyed!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Whiskey Fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14742731) by [johnny cade (johnnycake)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnnycake/pseuds/johnny%20cade)
  * [Drunkenness is a Kind of Poisonous Disease](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14757858) by [johnny cade (johnnycake)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnnycake/pseuds/johnny%20cade)




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